A Note On Unemployment and other things

U. S. unemployment has been around or above 9% for just about the entire Obama presidency. This is not surprising, given his policies, which, since businesses don't know the long-term affects of them, are hesitant to hire new workers. Americans are understandably concerned about the 9+% unemployment figure, but the European welfare states have been having this kind of number for years--mainly with policies that are largely being followed by the Obama administration now.

And, at one time in American history, it was actually worse--the Great Depression. During the 1930s, the unemployment rate never went below double-digits, and was frequently higher than 20%. Franklin Roosevelt, using policies very similar to Obama's, was unable to lower the unemployment rate with any consistency. By 1937, during FDR's second term, the figure was above 20% again.

He got away with it politically by blaming his predecessor.

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A little about Chinese economics. I received my meal card today, so I was able to eat at the cafeteria for the first time--more of a food court, as somebody had told me. The menus were all in Chinese, of course, but there were pictures. I still didn't know what anything was, but a nice chef came out and showed me a picture of something that looked like fried rice. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. He told me it was only 8 yuan (with a bowl of soup); that's a little over $1. When my order came, the meal was huge; I could barely eat half of it, and it was delicious. So, next time you go to a Chinese restaurant and order fried rice, tell them you have a friend (or relative) in China that only pays a buck for it....

Oh, and the ice cream cone I got for dessert was 30 cents.

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I just read that baseball player Barry Bonds will be sentenced in December for obstruction of justice. He was convicted in April...but won't be sentenced until December?? They're going to let this criminal walk around for another four months. I confess, I don't understand. Why don't they just send the sheriff to his house with a letter from the judge--"you're going to jail for 50 years, buddy, hop in the car."

Why do bureaucrats have to make everything difficult that ought to be so simple?

Free Online Books

The lady at the link above, "Free Online Books," was nice enough to put all my cowboy stories on her site, so I think it's only fair I put a link to her site as well. Check it out if you're looking for something to read.